Friday, June 6, 2014

CASKET & MONUMENT SHOP

JOURNEY JOURNAL... St. Petersburg, FloridaDOWN UNDER PRICING

The next time you’re at a cocktail soirée with office colleagues and the inevitable discussion about funeral planning ensues, maybe you’ll encounter Martin Spartan, a savvy shopper governed by principles of thrift. He may regale you with his tales of conquest. That is, this consummate bargain hunter will feel so proud of his serendipitous discovery that he’ll impulsively broadcast news of his good fortune to everyone there.

It’s quite possible that Martin followed a tip from a fellow champion of frugality and landed at the Casket & Monument Discount store located along a busy thoroughfare of commercial establishments.

What was he doing there? Looking for a bargain, of course! Because of his reputation as a spendthrift, he had been commissioned by his aunt to unearth a casket in anticipation of her terminally ill husband’s imminent demise.

Upon surveying the assortments of caskets, urns, memorial stones, and other relevant merchandise, he concluded that the products they would need did, indeed, have lower price tags than similar ones in funeral homes.

Naturally, the milieu of displays in this rudimentary building was utilitarian, without lighting effects or soothing background music.

But he didn’t care about ambience. All he wanted was a good deal.

Martin took advantage of his prerogative to shop this way. Though auntie would be using a funeral home for services, he knew that a casket they purchased on their own from a third party would have to be received and handled there, according to law, without imposition of any additional fee. This is one of the primary tenets clearly stated in The Funeral Rule that was established by the Federal Trade Commission in 1984 and amended in 1994.

So he had a fine time perusing the store’s inventory and choosing some items, including a casket that featured an interior panel with an embroidered golfer in the act of swinging. Well, Uncle Mortimer wouldn’t be doing any more swinging, but at least the depiction of his favorite pastime above his head is apt to evoke fond memories for all of his duffer buddies.

Look around your neck of the woods. Maybe you wouldn’t have to travel too far afield to mimic Martin and capture a similarly scintillating sense of success.__________________________________________________________________________